Did Newt Gingrich refer to Spanish as "the language of the ghetto?"
That was one of the more head-turning accusations in Thursday night's rough-and-tumble Republican debate -- the last face-to-face meeting of the candidates before Tuesday's important Florida primary.
It's part of our mission to hold the candidates accountable and put claims like these to the test.
Moderator Wolf Blitzer pointedly asked Mitt Romney about a Spanish-language ad his campaign was airing in Florida that accuses the former Speaker of referring to Spanish as a "ghetto language."
Initially, Romney appears to have been caught off-guard by the question, attempting to disavow the ad.
"I doubt that's my ad," Romney says.
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
After a commercial break, CNN debate moderator Wolf Blitzer noted that his staff had checked, and confirmed the ad was Romney's. Romney then posed a question to Gingrich: "Did you say what the ad says or not?"
Gingrich said the "language of the ghetto" comment was "taken totally out of context."
The comment came from a speech Gingrich gave to the National Federation of American Women on March 31, 2007.
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The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
The announcer says the ad was "paid for by Romney for President." And then Romney himself adds at the end, in Spanish, "Soy Mitt Romney. Estoy postulado para presidente y apruebo este mensaje." Translation: "I'm Mitt Romney. I'm running for president, and I approve this message."
e should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and so they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich told the audience.
Several days later, Gingrich posted a video on YouTube, in which he addressed his comments, in Spanish (he explained in the video that he had been taking Spanish lessons "for a while now"). According to the English subtitles provided, Gingrich began:
Gingrich, April 4, 2007: Last weekend I made some comments that I recognize produced a bad feeling within the Latino community. The words I chose to express myself were not the best, and what I wanted to say is this. In the United States it is important to speak English well in order to progress and have success. To achieve this goal, we should replace bilingual education programs with intensive English instruction courses and in this way permit that English be the language that all of us have in common.
This is an expression of support for Latinos, not an attack on their language. I have never believed that Spanish is a language of people of low income nor a language without beauty.
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